Raiden
Bio Immortal God of Thunder, Protector of Earthrealm. Raiden has saved Earthrealm time and again by rallying the bravest and strongest warriors of the day to defend it. After centuries of kombat and bloodshed, he fears unintended consequences for humanity, and himself History Mortal Kombat (2011) Raiden of the past receives the first fragments of the message in a series of disjointed images, at the opening ceremony of the first Mortal Kombat tournament on Shang Tsung's Island. He attempts to use these memory flashes to influence events and prevent Armageddon, although his interventions prove to have unexpected and nearly disastrous consequences. Examples of this include provoking Kung Lao to participate in the tournament much earlier than originally, resulting in his defeat at the hands of Scorpion (with his rivalry with Baraka never happening); saving the Lin Kuei ninja Smoke from capture and automation, only for the younger Sub-Zero to instead suffer the same fate (with the Lin Kuei pledging their loyalty to Shao Kahn in exchange for extraditing Sub-Zero); persuading Kitana to rebel against Shao Kahn, resulting in her being captured and nearly executed; encouraging Kung Lao to fight and defeat Shao Kahn's generals at the end of the second tournament in Outworld, only for Shao Kahn to kill Kung Lao in cold blood; and killing Motaro to save Johnny Cage, only for Shao Kahn to imbue Sindel with Shang Tsung's souls, giving her the power to attack and kill Kabal, Stryker, Cyber Sub-Zero, Jax, Smoke, Jade, and Kitana before Nightwolf finally sacrifices himself to destroy her. When the Elder Gods refuse to stop Shao Kahn's invasion, Raiden travels to the Netherrealm to bargain with Quan Chi for help. He offers Quan Chi the souls of Earthrealm warriors who fall in battle as well as his own soul in the event that he himself is killed. Quan Chi gloatingly reveals that the souls of Earthrealm's fallen already belong to him as part of Shao Kahn's agreement for the Netherrealm's assistance. Raiden is forced to fight off undead versions of his former comrades in order to escape the Netherrealm. Raiden's most fateful intervention in previously-established events came at the apex of Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, where he came to realize that 'he must win' in fact relates to Shao Kahn - he actually has to be allowed to merge the two realms, as only then can the Elder Gods intervene. This puts Raiden in direct confrontation with Liu Kang, who has become disillusioned with the mounting body count as a direct result of Raiden's actions. Raiden is forced to defeat Liu Kang in combat to prevent him from interfering, causing Liu Kang to die when Raiden's electricity reacts with Liu Kang's fireball and incinerates him. Shao Kahn is allowed to enter Earthrealm, and an emotionally shattered Raiden concedes ultimate defeat, as Kahn proceeds to dominate Raiden in almost exactly the same manner as the Armageddon aftermath. Only this time, the Elder Gods finally intervene and restore Raiden's strength. He and Shao Kahn engage in a final battle, with Raiden emerging victorious and Shao Kahn destroyed by the Elder Gods. Raiden, however, is deeply saddened by the cost in lives, and blames himself for their loss. Together with the surviving Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, Raiden leaves to tend to the fallen warriors and help rebuild Earthrealm. Unknown to him is that all these events were orchestrated by Quan Chi as part of Shinnok's plan to take Earthrealm and Outworld for himself. Mortal Kombat X Several months after the battle of Earthrealm, Shinnok begins his invasion of Earthrealm. Raiden is seen alongside Fujin fending of waves of demons that begin to overrun the grounds of the Sky Temple. Quan Chi then appears himself and Raiden angrily rebukes at Quan Chi to leave the sacred grounds. However, besides Quan Chi are undead revenants of Stryker, Sindel, and Kabal who then tells Raiden that he had freed them, with the Thunder God claiming he had given them a fate even worse than death. As Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Kenshi make their way to the Sky Temple, Raiden and Fujin attempt to hold off Quan Chi and the undead revenants from entering the Jinsei chambers. Shinnok then appears before both Raiden and Fujin and the undead revenants began to attack the two gods. Raiden is stabbed by Kabal's hook swords, but manages to use the blades as a conductor for his electricity and knocks out Kabal. He then aids Fujin as he shocks Sindel before the latter could finish him. They are then knocked by Shinnok's amulet and are almost absorbed by the amulet itself until the untimely intervention of Johnny Cage. Johnny fights and defeats Shinnok, with Raiden using his amulet to seal him away. While Raiden remarks that the amulet cannot be destroyed, Fujin suggests that they go to the Elder Gods for counsel. Five years after Shinnok's attack, Johnny along with Sonya go to the Netherrealm to infiltrate Quan Chi's fortress. While Johnny is left stabbed in the back by Jax and is left dying, his revenant self begins to take shape. Raiden then enters the Netherrealm and attempts to stop the process, but is interrupted by Quan Chi. After Sonya defeats Quan Chi, Raiden manages to reverse the spell, not only saving Johnny, but freed Scorpion, Kuai Liang, and Jax in the process by returning them to life. He is then seen tending to Johnny Cage's wounds, hopeful that, if the other revenants were found, he would reverse Quan Chi's magic in the same fashion, restoring all of them to life Five years later, Raiden encounters Kung Jin when the thief is trying to escape from the temple, suggesting him not to steal the heirloom and put it back where it belong. Yet, Kung Jin ignore Raiden's advice, forcing the god take the statue away from the thief and tells him that the reason why Kung family gave it to him, as a gift to honor Kung Jin's cousin, Kung Lao, after his death, causing Jin, who believes that Raiden was responsible for Lao's death at the hands of Shao Kahn, openly blames him, angering Raiden and causing them to fight. After Jin wins and walks away from Raiden, Raiden still able to stopped Jin from leaving, telling the thief that he wanted to let Jin attack him to release his anger, then tells Jin to go to the Wu Shi Academy to become a Shaolin Monk like Kung Lao was. However, Jin states that he cannot and it's too late for him, fearing they will reject him because he is a homosexual, but Raiden states Elder Gods assure him that the academy cares about what is in his heart, and telling Jin it was not too late for him as Raiden gives him the heirloom to Jin to honor Lao's death. Twenty years later, Raiden is seen in the Outworld refugee camp where he along with Sonya, Johnny, and Johnny's team are seen talking with Li Mei. They learn that Mileena is in possession of an amulet that gives her immense power. Suspecting the object to be Shinnok's amulet, he goes off to check on the amulet's security. He then is seen later on communicating with Sonya while confirming with her that the amulet was replaced with a duplicate. Before he can say more, he is then cut off by some unknown means, leaving Sonya to ponder. Raiden does not appear again in the story until much later where Bo' Rai Cho is seen waiting for him at the Sky Temple. Bo' Rai Cho informs Raiden his concerns about Shinnok's possible return. Raiden goes on to explain that he was caught in a trap by Kano and that getting out required his full attention, being unaware of the events that have already taken place. They proceed to travel to the Jinsei chamber, where Raiden goes to recover his strength. As they enter, Raiden hopes to turn the situation around with Bo' Rai Cho to wonder what he means. Raiden goes on to explain that their comrades and allies are under control of Quan Chi, stating that by capturing Quan Chi alive they can restore all of their former friends and allies back to normal. Raiden then goes to lament over the loss of the Earthrealm warriors during Shao Kahn's invasion, especially those of Liu Kang and Kung Lao. He goes off in a melancholic tone where he claims that the both of them were like sons, and that he would move the heavens to bring them back. The story then goes to a flashback twenty five years ago with Kung Lao and Liu Kang still alive while assisting Raiden in freeing the Shaolin. As Raiden is recovering, he notices a large shock and notices a large hole above the Jinsei chamber as he sees Bo' Rai Cho on the ground being dragged off. As Raiden makes it above ground, he sees Shinnok has returned and draining Bo' Rai Cho's life force with his amulet along with the revenant versions of Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Smoke, Kitana, and Sindel. Shinnok goes to the Jinsei temple claiming that he will claim Bo' Rai Cho's soul when he dies. Raiden retorts by saying that Bo' Rai Cho's soul is too strong for the likes of the Nettherealm. Liu Kang asks if they can kill him, but Shinnok orders for Raiden to live and that after he takes over the Jinsei he would seal Raiden just as he did with him before. Raiden then begins to fight the revenants, eventually facing Kung Lao, who is angered at Raiden for letting him die by Shao Kahn's hand. Raiden defeats Kung Lao, claiming that Kung Lao deserved a better fate. Then Liu Kang begins to attack Raiden. Raiden claims that this was not Liu Kang's fate, with Liu Kang mocking Raiden by asking him if he could still see the future. Raiden tells Liu Kang that he knows what should be, with Liu Kang claiming that he was put to death due to Raiden. Raiden then tells Liu Kang that his death was an accident that haunted him, with Liu Kang saying that he would help Shinnok end the Elder Gods. The two fight, and Raiden is victorious over his former friend and student. Raiden goes to the Jinsei chamber in an attempt to stop Shinnok, but is caught and captured. He along with Johnny Cage are now captive with Shinnok claiming the end of the world, but Raiden tells him that there are still warriors left that oppose him. After Cassie Cage defeats Shinnok, he urges her to take him to the Jinsei in order to purify it. The purification succeeds, and Raiden is then last seen being tended to by Kung Jin. After the credits, Raiden is seen in the Netherrealm. Due to cleansing the Jinsei from Shinnok, he has now adopted a much more darker persona. He appears before the new rulers of the Netherrealm, Liu Kang and Kitana, and threatens them by stating that he would no longer stand by and watch Earthrealm on the defensive. He would from now on seek and destroy all who threaten Earthrealm with no mercy or remorse. He then leaves the severed, yet still-living head of Shinnok on the ground to underline this point, and disappears in a flash of lightning, leaving Liu Kang and Kitana to ponder in thought. Project MV Zone A few weeks after Shinnok's defeat at the hands of Cassie Cage, Raiden, adapting a darker persona due to the Jinsei's corruption, is seen torturing the Fallen Elder God in the damaged Jinsei Chamber. Noticing that the Thunder God now wears his amulet, Shinnok taunts Raiden that he finally embraces "the truth he was cast out for speaking." Raiden replies that the only truth he embraces is that showing mercy to those who threaten Earthrealm is pointless and vows to preemptively destroy Earthrealm's enemies, beginning with Shinnok himself. When Shinnok reminds Raiden that not even he can kill an Elder God, the Thunder God darkly responds that "there are fates worse than death", and proceeds to decapitate Shinnok with a blade construct. Raiden states to the severed, yet still-living head of Shinnok that he will deliver him to Liu Kang as a warning, and "an emblem of his wrath", and leaves the Jinsei chamber, unaware that Kronika alters time around the chamber and revived him, annoyed that Raiden's actions have altered the balance of time. Gallery 1D131AB9-5E31-4062-AC23-CBF2C34632A8.jpeg|Before beheading Shinnok 1C73C0AF-3652-4F6F-B31C-6E85DA044E6F.png|Raiden after being corrupted by Shinnok's magic Category:Heroes Category:Immortals Category:Mortal kombat characters